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The Empress' Private Dressing Room
'The Empress' Private Dressing Room' ' '''The German-born Tsaritsa of Imperial Russia, was raised in a very English-setting and environment. Her Mother the Grand Duchess von Hessen und bei Rhein, Princess Alice of Great Britain was the second-eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived, and given the nickname ''Grandmother of Europe, as most of her children's descendants married into several of the large European noble houses etc... When Prizessin Alix von Hessen und bei Rhein became the last Empress of Imperial Russia, she took her life-style she adopted from living with her Grandmother and how she lived as a young child, and put it to good use as Empress. The Empress' Dressing Room was the first private apartment to mark the beginning of Her Imperial Majesty's Private Suite. It was located directly across from the Emperor's Formal Reception Room, and had access through doors to the central corridor, which served as the main access to most of the Imperial apartments on the Ground Floor of the Alexander Palace. The Dressing Room, was a part of a series of rooms that were built into a larger room. There was the Empress' Dressing Room, her private bathe, the Aide de Camp's Room, a passage or corridor and the double-doors to The Imperial Bed-Chamber served as another entry-way to the Empress' Dressing Room. The Dressing Room, served as the private space where the Empress herself bathed privately and then would get dressed. She had several outfits for different times of the day, that would bet set out ready and waiting when she rose from her slumber. She was very meticulous about the clothing she chose, and was at times undecided and chose several outfits to be set out for her to choose from and make her final decision. Usually, Her Imperial Majesty would awaken, and then bathe. Then she would get dressed casually for morning tea, then a bit more formally for luncheon and afternoon tea. Every evening, the Empress attired herself in regal gowns and magnificent jewelry when it was time to have dinner. Everyday the Empress did this routine and kept it up, until the Revolution swept the Tsar out of power and discombobulated everything she held dear, including her daily routines and what have you. The decorations and style of this space were very simple, with paneled furniture painted in ivory, and covered in chintz fabrics which the Empress' loved very much, and simple floral designs on the low walls, with a fine English sewn carpet on the floor. Above the fireplace were original watercolours showing the baptisms of the Empress' youngest daughters; Their Imperial Highnesses, Grand Duchesses Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaievna. These were artists original designs for popular prints commemorating these two very special events. Also, a large picture in a frame of the Empress' late father the Grand Duke von Hessen und bei Rhein, Louis IV hung over the fireplace as well. The Empress' personal maids also had private access to the Dressing Room via an ashwood stair from their work room on the mezzanine level above the Empress' Dressing Room. Her Imperial Majesty's clothing was stored and prepared in this room and then taken down to the Empress' Dressing Room for choosing and final deciding. The ashwood stair led to the Empress' Bath-Chamber which then had entry into the Dressing Room. On the right-hand wall, was an installed telephone that Her Imperial Majesty used to converse with her maids if something wasn't exactly as she wished, or if she wished to have another accessory. Another modern practicality was a wall thermometer with a buzzer to the heating rooms below in the Basement. When the rooms got too cold, the Empress would signal the attendant to fix the situation. These spaces, including the Empress' private bathe and dressing space were all constructed from a much larger room in 1895. The Empress had two long-time maids; Madeline Zanotti, and Maria Tudelberg. Madeline Zanotti was of Italian and English parentage, while Maria Tudelberg was of German. These two personal maids of the Empress did not wear the customary uniforms or lace caps to set them apart as maids. Both of them rebelled when it was suggested for them to do so, as they though themselves more so as ladies' companions then a regular maid or servant. They had quite considerable responsibilities and were on duty all the time, their quarters were located up on the second floor across form the Suite of the Grand Duchesses. Each of them had their own assistants, as all the help in the Alexander Palace did. The cleaning of the Empress' clothing was tedious at best, most of her clothing ranged from greatly hand-embroidered gowns, fine silks and tulle to beautiful brocade gowns used for State functions and Ceremonial events. Her Dressing Room, and the Mezzanine work space, had to be kept at certain temperatures, and also given the climate of the area the Empress' clothing had to be watched around the clock, and sometimes even hand-cleaned as most of her clothing were finely detailed pieces, and extremely expensive, and quality clothing. The Imperial couple had their laundry taken in special bags, etc... to the laundry at the Anichkov Palace, while their five children's laundry was done in the Imperial laundry at Tsarskoe Selo. Everything to make the Empress look her best, was up-to-date and highly advanced for its time. Electric irons and every appliance available to help the maids do what they had to, to make the Empress' quality clothing look its best. Up until 1917, these spaces were used in a non-stop cycle and routine. But when the Tsar was overthrown, things drastically changed. In August of 1917, the Empress left her private world to go into exile with her beloved family, and the rooms she used daily to dress and bathe in, where her maids worked to make her clothes look their best were made into part of a museum honouring the last Russian Imperial Family, until the beginning of the Second World War. Sadly, after the War these rooms were destroyed without any mercy by the then Soviet Union. The Mezzanine level of the Palace which included the balcony levels of the Maple Drawing Room, and the New Study as well as the Dressing Room's ceiling height were heavily criticised as being completely ignorant of the Tsarskoe Selo building code, and all of it was taken out. One of the few space to have survived this brutal destruction of period interiors was the Tsar's Formal Study (The New Study), which had a balcony that connected it to the Empress' legendary Maple Drawing Room. The Empress' Dressing Room, and Bathe and Mezzanine as it appears today Mama's former Dressing Room, and the other spaces (3).png|These doors would have been part of the Aide de Camp's Room, and give access to the Ground Floor Corridor. Mama's former Dressing Room, and the other spaces (4).png|A Portrait of Catherine the Great now hangs in a former passage in the cluster of rooms built in 1895 here. Mama's former Dressing Room, and the other spaces (5).png|View of the former Aide de Camp's Room, and the passage. Mama's former Dressing Room, and the other spaces (6).png|A large painting now hangs where once the Empress' bathe was located.